Rich's Tongfamily (Richtong.net add-on)

It’s been a while since I’ve bought much fishing gear, but with Grace growing up and actual success catching fish, I need two more rods. A good time to update the fishing guide. Resources like “TackleTour”:http://www.tackletour.com/editorschoiceall.shtm. They remain a great guide to fishing gear particularly their editors choice:
* “Quantum Energy 20PTi”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewquantumenergypti.shtm. Kind of expensive, but pretty amazing reel. $129 SRP. It’s a souped up version of the Catalyst listed below. Deluxe for Dad. They tested it with a St. Croix Legend Elite (ES66MF) rod and 8 lb test line, so it is for the bigger fish. Not an ultralight rig. The very best of the midrange combos. It would also work well with the AiRRUS Comatrix listed below. Won the best of 2004.
* “Quantum Catalyst 10PTi”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewquant10pti.shtm as a great high end reel. Perfect for Dad 🙂 $90 SRP. This is an ultralight reel. A good combination with the St. Croix Premier Traveler (PS60L4) and 2lb. Maxima Perfexi
* “Quantum Catalyst 20PTi”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewquantpti.shtm. This is a the medium reel. $90 SRP. Good combination with St. Croix legend Elite (ES66MF) and 6-8lb Trilene. Won the best of 2003.
* “Qkuma Metaloid”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewmetaloid.shtm. This is the reel from two years ago that I drooled over. $80 SRP
In terms of rods, things are a little less clear mainly because most of these are specialty rods that Cabelas doesn’t carry:
* “St. Croix Elite”:http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/horizontal-item.jhtml?id=0010288115057a&navAction=push&navCount=51&indexId=cat20374&podId=0010288&catalogCode=IE&parentId=cat20374&parentType=index&rid=&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fcatalog%2Fitem-link.jhtml.1_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20166&hasJS=true. Amazingly expensive at $300 a pop, but defines the high-end.
* “St. Croix Premier Traveler”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewscps60lf4.shtm. $120. Very light rod and it breaks into 4 pieces for backpacking. Perfect for Dad 🙂
* “AiRRUS Co-MATRiX 457”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewairrusas66m.shtm. $90. A good match to the Hypercast for instance.
* “Fenwick HMG”:http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/horizontal-item.jhtml?id=0017291117020a&navAction=push&navCount=51&indexId=cat20374&podId=0017291&catalogCode=IE&parentId=cat20374&parentType=index&rid=&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fcatalog%2Fitem-link.jhtml.1_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20166&hasJS=true. Another classic rod. $100.
* “Quarrow OTS664F”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewquarrowotc664f.shtm. A great rod. I had trouble finding it last time. $110 SRP
* “Kencor SP4HV”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewbpxpstravelrod.shtm. Only 4 feet long and fiberglas, its basically great for kids and is indestructible and easy to manuveur. $99. Good for kids
For the kids, I got the an inexpensive set of ultralight rod and reel. Smaller rods and reel means more fun when you catch the little guys.
* “Quantum Catalyst 10PTi”:http://cabelas.com. They have a great combo price for this of $129 with a decent rod. Not a bad price. You can also get it with the Fenwick for $180 in total.
* “Daiwa Laguna LA500”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewdaiwalaguna.shtm. This is an ultralight reel, so great for kids. $50 at Cabelas. Works great with a 6 foot Fenwick ($100) and 2-4 pound partiuclary with 1/12oz lures.
* “Quantum Hypercast Ultra”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewquanthpx20.shtm. This is an open face reel that doesn’t require you to touch the line. Great for kids! $40.
* “Daiwa Spinmatic X”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewsmx.shtm. This was the reel set that I originally got Alex and Calvin. Not great but at $30 what the heck. The Spinmatic SM-Z500T is supposed to be better with 5 bearings at $40.
Final thing is the line itself. Things are much more complex when it was all monofilament. Here are some choices:
* “P-line Fluroclear”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewplinefluroclear.shtm. A best of boths play by a co-polymer line. It is as easy to cast as monofilament, but as invisible as flurocarbon lines. It isn’t as brittle as pure flurocarbon
* “Sufix DNA”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewsufixdna.shtm. This is another very good co-polymer line. P-line rates a little better though.
* “Maxima Perfexion”:http://www.tackletour.com/reviewmaximap.shtm. This is a 2 lb monofilament line. Not as fancy, but only costs $2/280 ft spool vs. $9/300ft for copolymers.
Where to buy it:
* “Cabelas”:http://cabelas.com has a big selection. Prices are list, but at least you know you’ll get it.
* “Thorn Brothers”:http://thornbros.com. A little shop in Minnesota with a big presence on line. Got the St. Clair Premier Traveler from them.